Free Web NovelChapter 46: Power
Horria
Was it nice to see a fellow Coven member? Yes.
Did I appreciate having to travel for so long? No.
More importantly, I was the one running my mana storage just to make sure that no animal or person would be able to tell that I was there.
It was extremely useful but also a very rare resource, especially since the mana in the atmosphere is all but gone, and squeezing it out of living things is the only way that members of the coven can get it.
"How goes the mission?" I asked her, hoping that surely I hadn’t come in vain, relieved to watch her nod her head as I peered deeply into her eyes.
Lying was a disgusting trait, something she knew I hated.
"The omega is pregnant, and it’s only a matter of months before..." she began, and I instantly shook my head.
"I brought the calculations I’ve made! There’s only a small increase in power if you let the spawns sit inside the stomach for that long. It’s not worth it. Quantity beats quality," I told her, trying not to allow my annoyance to bleed into my tone.
"Your alphas want strength! Give them something," I told her, with a bit of fear in my voice as I narrated what happened to Brother Vale in the Vally pack.
"He was torn apart in a moment of anger when the alpha could not wait any longer," I said, allowing my eyes to strain in the darkness to see that her eyes were bright but filled with the same worry.
"They are more powerful than us, and right now we are simply stirring the waters, nothing more!" I reminded her, watching her nod her head with a smile on her face that showed that she understood, even though I wasn’t sure if she actually did.
Still, I dragged her in and pulled her into a hug. Being far away from each other and the coven meant that we needed to meet intermittently to confirm that all was well.
"Start the experiments and make them stronger in preparation for the war. They will not fight if they do not think they can win!" I whispered, even as I watched Gessia nod, a fierce look I appreciated back on her face.
"I’ll do it once the month is over!" she replied, and I breathed in relief.
"Good! Omega spawns are much stronger! Keep her fed and well, and you can bear as many spawns as possible!" I told her with a smile.
"They are very fertile!" I added, recalling all the women I was still experimenting with.
"They will also fill your soul storage and enhance it! We need power!" I told her, and she chuckled, nodding her head with glee.
"Of course! That’s the goal above all!"
"Above all!" I repeated before handing her the bag and herbs I collected along with the papers I wrote.
"We won’t meet for a while unless the leaders see fit that it happen!" I reminded her, watching as Gessia’s blue eyes lit up under the light the most.
"I understand!" she said, handing me the letter about all the aspects of the pack and the dynamics between the three alphas who were crucial to the plan.
We were yet to experiment on alphas and the transfer of power to another.
There was a lingering sadness in her gaze that I didn’t like as I spoke again, "you’ll still get two of them under control," I reminded her.
"Love will only get you killed! They are creatures of instinct... half animals," I reminded her again.
"They will yearn for their own kind before they will ever cherish you!" I told her, watching her vigorously respond with a nod that said that she fully understood, although again I very much doubted that she actually did. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"I understand, Horria!" she sighed in response, moving to hug me again, and I let her.
"When did you become a worrywart?" she asked me, and I sighed, hugging her tighter.
"...when we lost one of us! Our numbers are already too low, any more and we might go extinct!" I responded with a sigh as I hugged her tighter.
"The coven members are still going around trying to have more children, but the survival rate is low, and even lower are children that take after the mana trait of the mothers," I added, showing just how worried I was.
We had power, but our numbers were even more scattered and lower than those of the werewolves.
Some witches never awakened, and some that did caught the mana illness that slowly attacked their blood and killed them.
"Relax, brother," Gessia responded, pulling away as she seemed to have completely pushed away all her worries, even though we both knew that she had simply pushed them down instead.
"We’ll pull through!" she said, and I nodded, ’or die trying,’ my heart already set on it.
The humans burnt us to death simply because they feared us, and the werewolves weren’t any different, following their ancient manuscript because their elders told them to.
The only reason Gessia and I were still breathing was because they needed us, which meant that we had to be useful.
"The night is dark, I need to head back and arrive before it is noticed that I was gone," I told her, watching her pull completely away as she grabbed the bag I had brought.
Placing her hands on her head and drawing a line straight to her heart.
"May the magic of the world be with you, brother," she said, her voice low and deep, as I gestured the same sign, wanting to hug her again but I didn’t.
"...and with you, sister," I responded, raising the cloak I wore back over my head to cover my face before turning around to leave.
Aware that by the time I got back to the pack on the horse I had brought with me, all my magic would be spent just to ensure that no animals of the night would be able to sense me or the horse I rode on.
’The more I use it, the better I’ll get at drawing mana from the air! The faster I would be able to become one of the ascended,’ I reassured myself even as I got back to the pack and got down from the horse, which I parked back in the stables like I had simply gone for a morning ride.
There was a guard shift, and they probably assumed that I had come back earlier and was just returning after picking herbs, some of which I gave them with a smile.
Reminding myself that being useful was one of the reasons I was still alive. Pretending to love the alpha and desire him was the other.
